( “I am honored to follow in the footsteps of Jim Weaver and am grateful to Dr. Steger, Dr. Sands [incoming president Tim], and the search committee for this appointment,” said Babcock in a statement. “I would like to also thank the University of Cincinnati community which has been so wonderful to me and my family. I certainly owe a debt of gratitude to the students, staff, coaches, and administration there. However, working for Virginia Tech is a unique and special opportunity . . . an opportunity to come home to Virginia and become part of the Hokie family is truly a dream come true. I am anxious to get started in Blacksburg and help build on Virginia Tech’s success and upward trajectory.”)

A Virginia native, Babcock has worked at Cincinnati since October 2011, shepherding an $86 million renovation of the Bearcats’ football stadium and hiring football coach Tommy Tuberville from Texas Tech.

Cincinnati was Babcock’s first athletic director’s job. He previously served in various administrative roles at Missouri, West Virginia, Auburn and James Madison.

Babcock was born and raised in Harrisonburg and graduated in 1992 from hometown JMU, where he played baseball. His father, Brad, was a long-time baseball coach and athletics administrator at the school.

As Virginia Tech’s athletic director, Babcock inherits a department that while operating in the black seeks additional revenue to fund projects such as an indoor football practice complex. The Hokies rank among the nation’s best in NCAA academic metrics and have become top-50 staples in the Directors’ Cup all-sports standings.

Tech is replacing Jim Weaver, who retired for health reasons last month after 17 years on the job, the second-longest AD tenure in Hokies history.

Similarly, Tech football coach Frank Beamer is preparing for his 28th season, and Babcock presumably will select Beamer’s replacement. That would be Babcock’s second such hire.

Babcock’s defining moment at Cincinnati occurred in December 2012, when football coach Butch Jones left for Tennessee. One day later, Babcock tabbed Tuberville, with whom he worked at Auburn. The Bearcats went 9-4 under Tuberville in 2013, losing to North Carolina in the Belk Bowl.

Nippert Stadium has been Cincinnati’s football home since 1901, and the renovation/expansion, scheduled for completion in 2015, is being completely funded by private donations and personal seat licenses.

Unlike ACC member Virginia Tech, Cincinnati has not landed in one of college football’s five major conferences. The Bearcats competed in the old Big East, which then splintered into the American Athletic Conference.

Babcock and school officials lobbied for ACC inclusion in 2012 when Maryland announced it was leaving for the Big Ten. The league chose Louisville, Cincinnati’s conference and geographic rival, instead.

Cincinnati reported $45.1 million in athletics expenses and revenue for fiscal 2012-13 to the U.S. Department of Education. Virginia Tech reported $69.8 million in revenue, $66.4 million in expenses.

Prior to Cincinnati, Babcock spent five years each at Missouri, West Virginia and Auburn. He worked primarily as a fund-raiser at Auburn and WVU before overseeing all external operations at Mizzou, including fundraising, marketing, ticketing, game operations, licensing, and multi-media rights.

Virginia Tech has hired three other athletic directors in the last 30 years, and like Babcock, all had previous AD experience. Dutch Baughman worked at Furman, Dave Braine at Marshall, Weaver at Western Michigan and Nevada-Las Vegas.

During one of his final staff meetings as Virginia Tech's athletic director, Jim Weaver revealed how much pain he was enduring, how Parkinson's disease and two failing hips had not only fast-tracked his retirement but also compromised basic, daily living.

The day is young — our three-beverage lunch beckons — but thus far no breaking news from Virginia Tech. Good thing, too, since the last three days are as challenging to digest as that third Thanksgiving slab of Granny’s cornbread dressing.

Catasauqua police officer Scott M. Rothrock had already been stabbed once in the chest with a 13-inch butcher knife and was trying to block other stabbing attempts as he lay on his back in a snow bank in east Allentown last month.